


In So Many Words: YOI Edition

by satbiym



Series: Tumblr Meta and Ficlets [1]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Borderline Personality Disorder, Captain America Yuuri Katsuki, Character Study, Comedy, Established Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov, M/M, Meta, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Victor Nikiforov Has Borderline Personality Disorder, song of achilles au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-12
Updated: 2018-05-20
Packaged: 2019-05-05 18:48:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 7,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14624850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/satbiym/pseuds/satbiym
Summary: Features meta and ficlets that were originally posted on Tumblr.Highlights include:Chapter 1: Victor Nikiforov vs EyelashesChapter 2: Boku no Hero Academia AUChapter 3: Scott Pilgrim AUChapter 7: Avengers AUChapter 8: BPD!Victor metaChapter 9: Song of Achilles AUPlease note: The format of this work does not adhere to traditional fic format.





	1. Victor Nikiforov vs. Eyelashes

Listen, Victor applies mascara ok. Every morning, without fail, he leans over the mirror, opens his mouth and painstakingly applies his military-grade waterproof mascara.  There is no other explanation for why he has  _black_ eyelashes when his hair is most certainly  _not black_. 

He is also seethingly jealous of Yuuri’s naturally long and luscious eyelashes, asking himself daily with bitter fervor,  _why does god gift_ _those who know not what they have and don’t appreciate it?_

To Victor, Yuuri’s bambi-esque look is a tragedy akin to the ending in the Gift of the Magi. It was  **unfair**.

And when Victor, plucking up his courage, confesses this to Yuuri, he just blinks and blankly says “ _I’m_ unfair?” before cackling himself hoarse. 

Victor, most firmly, does  _ **not**_  understand.

But then again, Victor consoles himself the next day, dropping a kiss on Yuuri’s closed eyelids as Yuuri lay asleep, sprawled in  _their_  bed, he can appreciate those eyelashes enough for the  _both_  of them. 

After all, putting a ring on that finger did mean he was committed to being Yuuri’s #1 hype-man and champion, through sickness and in health. And if that meant he had to love the round cheeks, curvy waist, lithe arms, and big brown eyes that stared into your very  _soul_ with more enthusiasm than before, to make up for their owner not giving them the appreciation they  **deserve** …..Well, that was burden Victor had been preparing his whole life to carry. 

So, it all evened out in the end, he supposed, and laid back down on the bed, the crisis of faith firmly averted.

Yuuri sleeps on, unaware.  


	2. The BNHA AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Boku no Hero Academia or My Hero Academia AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had just finished watching BNHA's season 1 when I wrote this.   
> Hope you guys enjoy it :)))

Yuuri had known from a very young age that all men weren’t created equal. If it wasn’t enough that he had a weakness for Katsudon and a body that gained weight way too easily; it wasn’t enough that he suffered from crippling anxiety, he was also born without superpowers in a world of superheroes and villains.

He was one of the 20% born  _quirkless_.

All he had ever wanted was to fight beside his hero, Victor Nikiforov.

* * *

 

Victor was All Might - injured, short on time, and just plain  _tired -_ looking for a successor for his superpower. The public didn’t know that their #1 superhero can only be Victor Nikiforov, #1 Superhero for about 3 hours a day due to a past injury. Their Symbol of Peace was a sham.

He found Yuuri who was born without any powers, who had been dreaming of becoming a superhero since the first time he saw Victor rescuing civilians from a burning building.

On seeing Yuuri run to save his classmate Yuri Plisetsky from a sludge monster, something even nearby pro-heroes were hesitating to do, despite not having a superpower…….He felt something he had thought had long since died, curl in his chest.

“Yuuri Katsuki, you too can be a hero!”

Oh, didn’t I mention? This is the story of how Yuuri Katsuki became the world’s greatest hero.

* * *

 

Victor was dying. 

He knew it.

And if the way Yuuri grew stronger every day was any indication, he only had so much time remaining.

* * *

 

“ _You cannot die._ ” Yuuri screamed at Victor, in the car parking lot.

Victor ran his hands through his hair in frustration (not at Yuuri, never at Yuuri, but more at his own inability to ever say the right thing).

“You don’t understand. It’s how it’s meant to be. One Symbol of Peace dies, and the other takes their place!” Victor said, desperate to make Yuuri  _see._

Yuuri swiped his wet face with his palms carelessly, “Well, then I don’t want to be the next Symbol of Peace! Take it back! I don’t want it!” he spits out.

Victor gaped.

Yuuri continued, surging forwards to clasp Victor’s arms, gentle and cognizant of Victor’s weaker form, despite the tension in his own frame, “It’s not worth it. Not like this! I don’t - none of this is worth it, without you  _by_  my side. I don’t  _want_ a quirk if it’s at the cost of you. Let’s end this.”

Victor could feel his chest bloom as a hot lump blocked his throat.

Yuuri leaned forward, resting his forehead against Victor’s, “It doesn’t have to be this way. We’ll fix it. Just. Believe in me. Please don’t give up.”

And Victor, for the first time in a long time,  _hoped._   

* * *

 

Victor believed in the system. He wouldn’t be in it if he didn’t. But he had long since given up the starry-eyed lens through which he used to view the world and traded them in for more realistic ones……  

But, the thing Victor didn’t expect when he met a shiny-eyed Yuuri Katsuki who stammered about Victor being his hero, was that one day this steely-eyed boy with a heart full of seemingly unreachable dreams would one day become  _Victor’s_  hero.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I found this out after I wrote this fic, but you should check out Abarero's fic, [ My Hero, Yuuri ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9366389/chapters/21203546) which is a BNHA au. I haven't read the fic yet, but have heard lots of great things about it.


	3. The Mini Scott Pilgrim AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is more of an errant thought than a ficlet, but I figured, some of you might enjoy it.

Has Victuuri!Scott-Pilgrim-vs-the-world thing already been done before? Where Yuuri is the manic pixie dream boy that Victor falls in love with. And Yuuri is confused, but willing to go along because  _omg, is this real life or is this just fantasy? Victor Nikiforov wants to be his **FRIEND????**_

(Ha! Little do you know, Yuuri.)

so he agrees, only….only…Victor being my friend (”huh?” Thought victor who thought he was being Suave) is….difficult. For Reasons.

Victor finds out those reasons when he meets Yuuri’s ex-”Friends” who he has to battle, who damn well know What is Up.

In the process, victor falls out of love with the idea of Yuuri, and falls in love with the person itself.

The last person Victor has to defeat is Yuuri himself. 

The choice of weapons is figure skating.

Who will win? 


	4. Post Canon Fluff I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a ficlet in response to voxofthevoid's prompt for "Victuuri, post canon fluff!"

The public party at Yutopia, post-Grand Prix Finals was one to remember.

The much more private party of three, was - in Victor’s eyes - more memorable. If only because he didn’t have to share a beautifully rumpled and relaxed Yuuri with anyone else.

“You aren’t looking, Victoooru”

Victor surprised himself with letting loose a shriek as Yuuri pounced on him, attacking him with petal-soft kisses over his neck and face.

Makkachin barked excitedly, eager to join in on the new game his humans were playing, running in a circle barking.

“Shhhh…..” Yuuri whispered urgently, putting a finger on his pink lips and in the same loud whisper waved his hands over Makkachin, “Makka, shhhhh….. Everyone’s sleeping”

Needless to say, Yuuri had had one too many glasses of alcohol.

To be fair, when your childhood ballet instructor and mentor slams down a bottle of alcohol that even Victor was scared to touch, and demands that Yuuri do one shot per jump rotation from his choreography, you couldn’t exactly say no.

Victor sighed in relief. Though he doubted anyone else in the inn was in a position to be disturbed, considering how much everyone else had drank.

Yuuri, drawn to the sound, focused back on Victor, and considered him, from his perch atop Victor’s thighs, as they sat on the bed in Victor’s room. Victor gulped, taken aback by the unholy light in those lovely brown eyes.

Yuuri pouted, and said petulantly, “You looked away, Vitya.”

Victor melted, and opened his mouth, but before he could grovel, Yuuri continued, the pout long gone and a wicked smile taking its place. Victor’s mouth closed with a snap.

“Now, how should I punish you?”

Victor’s heart stuttered, brain suddenly flooded with full HD images of suggestions, each more R rated than the other.

Yuuri leaned close, eyes lidded, and with his mouth close to Victor’s neck he said breathily, “I have always wondered, you know…..”

Victor shivered because of the tingles that the barely-touching lips caused.

“I have always wondered if the Great Victor Nikiforov was….”

Victor leaned back, offering his throat instinctually, eager for the next words out of Yuuri’s mouth. He could feel Yuuri take a deep breath, and prepared himself for what he imagined would be a sexually defining moment in their relationship.

“Ticklish.”

Huh?

Listen, Victor was a professional athlete. He knew about attacks and keeping himself safe.

But even he wasn’t prepared for the incoming assault.

Yuuri’s clever fingers mercilessly dug into his sides, and moved quicksilver, as Victor struggled to contain his shrieks of laughter, and attempt to get away.

But to no avail.

The enemy had gained a foothold, and wasn’t yielding it anytime soon.

Victor laughed and laughed until tears pricked his eyes, until the very proximity to Yuuri’s smirking mouth and wiggling fingers sent him into phantom spasms of laughter.

But the enemy was merciless.

Victor rolled around on the bed, trying to get away, as Yuuri - from his position on Victor’s thighs - never seceded his position.

The room was filled with ugly laughter and snorting, as Victor pleaded with Yuuri for mercy.

It went on forever.

Until it didn’t.

Victor hiccuped, laughter still peaking out, and opened his eyes, only to see a Yuuri hallowed by his bedroom light.

His Yuuri was staring at him with a look.

Victor swiped his eyes, eager to remove evidence of his crying. Yuuri caught Victor’s hands in his, and pinned them to the bed, moving to whisper in Victor’s ears, “You should always be like this. Laughing. Happy. Always.”

Victor felt his heart squeeze, and he closed his eyes so he wouldn’t cry (even more).

“Huh, I guess you can cry unattractively. That’s a relief!”

Victor’s eyes flew open in outrage, and he flipped Yuuri to his back, eager to take a little tickle-revenge in return.

 


	5. The One where Victor is not a Playboy, but just a Film Geek

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meta about Victor and his "playboy" origin story

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [ Post that Inspired this ](http://satbiym.tumblr.com/post/169121344343/mugimaki-a-guide-to-enthralling-the-hearts-of-men)

Listen.

I know it’s addictive to watch Victor wink and smirk like those celebrities we grew up watching.

Only…here’s a thought experiment.

So, we know Victor likes to read, yeah? and that he grew up a Celebrity.

And as brilliant as Yakov is as a coach, i don’t think  _he_ was the one who taught Victor how to do the above. 

(Funny image to consider though, but that’s a thought experiment for another time)

And  _those_  moves, the graceful movement that not only removes his sunglasses, but also makes his heart swish  _just so???_

That takes practice. Regular one at that.

(Now we stop our show for our daily adverts: imagine victor practicing this in front of his bathroom mirror before an ice show, imagine him doing this in front of Makacchin, imagine him doing this (Accidentally) in front of Yuri P)

And just  **where**  did he get The Moves? 

My answer: cheesy old movies and trashy magazines.

And just  **who** introduced him to those movies and magazines?

My answer: Lilia.

nO! Listen! 

Lilia who used to be one of the world’s best ballerinas. Who has travelled the world, and seen it all.

Including fuck boys trying out their moves on an ever-increasingly unimpressed Lilia. 

And the first time Victor watches a man try his luck with Lilia, he is 7. And he is Deeply Fascinated. At the Art of it all! the Drama!

Just like in his books!!!!

That night Lilia catches him staring soulfully into the mirror and making faces, and knows immediately What is Up.

And Lilia will be damned if she lets anyone under her roof attempt such cheap theatrics.

No.

If Victor wanted it so badly, it would have to be Beautiful.

So, then began victor’s cultural education.

they watched all the movies, books, and magazines, until Victor could play the part convincingly. 

But, it was just a part??? a role Victor adorned and laughed about quietly when he curled up with his latest tomb of a novel.

Everything he had ever learnt had been from watching others.

And if sometimes Victor distantly wondered what was  _real_ in him, something that was only his and not adopted out of books and out of sheer need/boredom, well everyone felt that way…right?

(”Sometimes I wonder which is the real me… this splendid metal skin I’ve created – or the frail thing of flesh that wears it.” - Victor always did relate a bit too deeply with Tony Stark)

But, everyone wanted a charming playboy, a rake, so a rake Victor would be.

And then he met Yuuri.

And suddenly his repertoire of one-liners, easy smiles, artfully tousled clothes and teasing touches weren’t making the impact they usually would??? 

“I want you to be just Victor!”

Oh, if he only knew who that was.

(tl;dr victor is a nerd who takes Charming Playboy lessons from trashy magazines and old movies) 


	6. The Origins of Gryffindor Yuuri

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my argument for why Yuuri is a Gryffindor in my Harry Potter AU, The Dance of the Veela.

“Sometimes I think we sort too soon”

Yuuri ducked his head and clenched his fist.

A journey of Yuuri trying to prove to everybody that he was not weak. He realizes at the end, that the only person he had to prove it to was himself, everyone else already knew.

Yuuri who would awkwardly pat the crying first-years (”there, there?”) after saving them from the troll that got lose in the hallway that one year, and then again when he singlehandedly took on an entire team of Ravenclaws during the annual snowball fight (those Ravenclaws work hard and play  _hard_ ) after his entire year was in bed with a cold.

Yuuri who once got hit in the face with a bludger, and still managed to get the snitch (after throwing his blood in a surprised Yuri P’s eye to distract him. Yuri P was grudgingly impressed).

Yuuri who would sit in silence beside you when you were falling apart, and then give you mint kit-kats.

Yuuri who kept tissues in his bag, because he knows he will cry at some point during the day.

Yuuri who once verbally eviscerated a boy who tried to capture a unicorn.

Yuuri wouldn’t only be the first to draw his wand during a fight. But he had a kind of silent strength that seemed born of sleepless nights and personal demons. of fights fought and valiantly won.

His kindness, Yuri P realized, was the greatest strength of all. 


	7. Avengers AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a little bit of my Avengers AU, where Yuuri is Capt America and Victor is Iron Man.

Okay. Okay.

I’m back.

Imagine. 

Yuuri Katsuki is the kind of man who would sneak into shows when the ballet came to town, he would be the kind to get into fights when he sees some men harassing one of the dancers.

So what if he was a color-blind, asthmatic mess of a man? No way would he let some garbage dump of a human being talk that way about anyone.

His doctors always said he had a weak heart.

Thank god phichit gets there in time.

Yuuri wants to fight.

He wants…he wants… it doesn’t matter what he wants. They will never accept a man like him.

But turns out they do.

(”You want to kill some Nazis, huh?”

“I don’t like bullies, no matter where they are from.”)

So, yeah. Maybe letting some man he had never met inject a potentially deadly serum into his body was a mistake. But he was fated to die since the moment he was born (wasn’t everybody?)

Yuuko’s wide eyes were a plus.

OBLIVIOUS HEARTBREAKER YUURI KATSUKI! IN HIS ORIGINAL MINI-ME FORM.

(”No one will want me, phichit. I’m too….”

Phichit begs god for patience as he smiles comfortingly at the second woman Yuuri had pushed away that night in his confidence that no one would want him.

Sometimes. Yuuri was his own worst enemy. 

 _What would he do without me?_  Phichit thought,  _what would I do without him?)_

The press wrote about Captain America punching Hitler in the face, and Yuuri secretly thought he liked dancing on stage for the soldiers the best of all.

(He could, he discovered to his glee, eat as much katsudon as he wanted! his doctors practically prescribed it because of the serum)

Yuuri was incandescently happy. 

But then….

Phichit’s hand slipped.

And he fell.

Yuuri’s despair echoed in the winter terrain.

And for the first time since he was injected with the serum, the world lost color.  


	8. Improvisation: The Victor Nikiforov Story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victor with BPD is important to me.

I’m gonna be a little bit too real and write about BPD!Victor and his tendency to just….start getting bored of food, material things, activities, people.

Things that once made his heart race, would suddenly just…lose their shine.

So, alarmed at his growing disinterest in the world, and armed with his fame and fortune, he goes out and tries almost everything in the world to just feel again.

It works until it doesn’t.

Suddenly, he’s 27 and can have entire conversations with people in his head that almost match word-to-word with the real thing.

He’s  _bored, bored, bored._

And so tired. Of his life, his medals (which even the audience is no longer surprised…..the one thing that kept him going), the very flesh on his bones.

He feels eyes on himself, he turns.

Ah, a fan. Atleast that will be semi-interesting, even if Victor knows the script that will enfold.

_A commemorative photo? Sure!_

He smiles widely, “A commemorative photo? Sure!”

_A happy gasp and the fan will rush over, phone in hand._

Like an theatre actor who had been playing the same role for 10 years, repeating the same lines, with different audiences each night.

The audience didn’t matter, for Victor could only see the lights.

Only…the eyes slide away, and their owner turns. Walking away from Victor and the stage.

Victor blinkes.

His vision tunneles to the man walking away.

_That was a deviation from the script._

(Come talk to me about how all Victor sees are the lights, and all Yuuri sees are the people in the audience. How Victor’s need to surprise his audience is a manifestation of his hate (And fear) of that deep feeling of just losing feeling for something he once held dear….Also ADHD!Victor)


	9. Song of Achilles AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What it says in the title.

Achilles!Victor, who was to born to do great things. And Patroclus!Yuuri whose greatest achievement was to be born (in his opinion).

They meet when Yuuri is banished (because he accidentally “killed” a bully) to Yakov’s court. 

Everyone is fascinated by this beautiful boy who looks so sad, who (it’s said) killed another with his enchanted knife shoes, when he was disrespected. Yakov’s court respects that.

These rumours reach the ears of the famed prince of the land, who gets curious….Only, every attempt to talk to the beautiful foreigner only results in a (cute) squeak and Yuuri somehow disappearing.

Maybe he was part wind?

So Victor plans. He collects his savings, and builds the biggest ice rink in the world. Right next to the palace. In a place known for its eternal heat, and the fact the only think people knew about ice was 1) you use it when you pull something and 2) knife shoes.

And then he waits.  

One early morning he gets lucky, and manages to catch Yuuri skating.

Victor’s eyes widen, his theory about Yuuri being part-wind cementing, for no one can move like that on ice, can they? He remembered the rumours of Yuuri having enchanted skates….but he could sense no magic from them….it was all Yuuri.

He could feel the world shifting beneath his feet. Like he was the one gliding on ice, instead of Yuuri.

He had to know more. 

He stepped into the light, smiled brightly and yelled, “Yuuri!!!”

Startled, Yuuri looked up, brown meeting blue for a second, before those lovely eyes, and their owner went down and ate ice.

Victor flinched slightly. Maybe that hadn’t been such a good idea?


	10. Victor Tries Really Hard

Ok, but how hard do you think Victor tried those first few months in Hasetsu?

To drape himself just  _so_ when sitting (lounging), to add a little extra swing in his hips when walking, to have his clothes be in a constant state of artful disarray so as to strategically show skin, to spend 30 minutes pimping in the bathroom every  _day_  before leaving his room in the morning…..

How hard do you think he posed his body and fluttered his eyelashes and lowered his voice to whisper breathily in Yuuri’s ear until he realized that the only times Yuuri looked at him with breathless awe on his face were the days Victor messed up his eyeliner just a bit around the wings or that time he fell into the puddle laughing because Makkachin jumped on him or days where even Victor’s impressive long-hold hair-spray would lose its battle from the sweat of practice, leaving his (thinning) hair to unattractively stick to his (too big) forehead.

Days where Victor looked less  _Victor Nikiforov, Five-time Champion and International Playboy_ and more  _Victor_ ,  _Who Tries Really Hard_.

(Outtake: Imagine the first time Yuuko saw Victor  _without_ Yuuri nervously around him. The way her eyes widened at the sudden change in Victor’s general posture. How he went from bower bird in throes of courtship behavior to sleepy birb)


	11. Victor and Yuuri: A Hairy Story

So, imagine a 17-year old boy already at the top of the world, full of fire and ambition with nowhere to channel it, sliding away from the table, full of investors and sponsors with  _Opinions,_ with apologies he barely means, and speed walking ( **not**  running) his way to the closest ice skating rink, his long hair swishing behind him.

Only to find that rink is already in use, an Asian man apologetically conveys, albeit, with a tinge of steel, Victor was impressed to note, most rink managers wouldn’t hesitate to boot out their own children from the rink if it meant  _Victor Nikiforov_ would be using it.  

Victor became curious.

He could do a distraction. He smiled widely at the manager and accepted his congratulations on his winning the gold, and after promising to not disturb the skater, walked into the rink.

Victor expected to see skating. Maybe even good skating.

But he didn’t expect to see  _his_ own FS playing in the background as a figure, who couldn’t be more than 10, arched his back and flung his hair back like Victor did. Moves that were carefully and strategically placed to highlight  _Victor,_ exchanged hands and became this young skater’s. 

Victor, despite himself, was charmed and (embarrassingly enough) envious.

_“You aren’t 16 anymore, you know. You don’t want to chase something that will never come back. You don’t want people to think you can’t move past your past self. That you’ve **peaked.** ”_

Victor clenched his fist, as the unwelcome voice from dinner filled his head.

Peaked, huh? 

He’ll show them. 

Victor Nikiforov will remain  _Victor Nikiforov,_ even if the person he had to beat was himself.

Even if it meant giving up the one thing that was just for himself. Victor would make and remake himself until he had no more hands to play…..

A gasp cut through the air.

Victor looked up. 

The young skater had finally noticed him.

“Y-You….” The soft voice whispered. Brown eyes, wide and shining, even from the distance stared back.

Victor smiled gently and drew closer, the ice of the rink steadily seeping into his skin, giving him strength.

…..Victor _always_ had hands to play.

“Say, would you mind helping me out with something?”

And that kids is the story of how Yuuri Katsuki went out for a nervous skate at 10 PM and wound up cutting the hair of Victor Nikiforov, Junior world champion and Senior Grand Prix Silver Medalist, as the man himself babbled his ear off, in the locker room of a dilapidated ice rink in Japan.


	12. Victor and Softness

I wonder how long Victor has been waiting for someone to treat  _him_ with softness.

Because whenever someone is interested in him, they think the charming, suave, can’t-touch-this playboy is all there is to Victor. That just because he wears gold, and eats quads for breakfast that he has lost his need for kindness and softness. Everyone from his coach to his fans see him either as a child to be disciplined, or a trophy to only touch when polishing. 

I wonder when was the last time someone,  _anyone,_ treated Victor like he was something precious?

People would see his sharp angles, silver hair, fame and fortune and automatically conveniently forget the fact that he is human as well underneath it all. And they would claw at him until all he had left were hollow bones.

The closest Victor got to being softly touched by another human being, was when he was  _handled._ A disinterested arm to turn him just so for the camera, the way the hairdressor swept back his bangs to trim them, the accidental brushing of fingers when handing someone something.

People forgot  _Victor,_ until Victor too forgot how comforting it was to feel soft fingers brushing his face like it was something special, like  _he_ was something special.

And then came Yuuri. Yuuri who would jump away at Victor’s every attempt to get closer, but who would softly drape a blanket when Victor fell asleep somewhere that wasn’t his room, who gently poked his hair, and laid his hand, light and yet present at the same time, over Victor’s head in forgiveness. Who caressed his face, until Victor could feel the gentle heat from the callouses in his fingers. And he did this in bed, he did it in front of his (their!!!) family and friends. He even did it in front of the whole world.

Unafraid, unapologetic, and soft in his love.  

And Victor who had previously only been a spectator to softness, who had always been too sharp, too smart, and had a head full of noise and edges, felt  _enough._    


	13. On Languages

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This meta is inspired by the concepts in the fic [ This brilliant fic](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8954956) buy queenieofaces where they talk about the different ways Victor and Yuuri learn new languages.  
> (Go read it!!!)

So, Yuuri is a cautious learner. He takes his time, observes, tastes the words on his tongue, speaks them out loud softly when alone. Then when he is ready, oh boy, get ready for Hurricane Yuuri.

If learning was a pool, Yuuri would first dip his toes in, get used to the temperature, maybe practice swimming on dry land, overthink a bit, and then just cannonball into the deep end when he is ready.

Unless of course, you piss him off, and he has something to prove (which he always does, in his mind), then the weeks of careful planning are thrown out and he is just cannonballing. Impulsive, that boy. But it’s careful impulsivity.

Contrast that to Victor’s method, which is basically to wade into the shallow end and do his best to figure out swimming on the way. But the one thing about Victor is, he won’t try the deep end until he knows he’s got it. He didn’t go to Yuuri until Yuuri sent him and the world a video of him skating to Victor’s yearning, despite Yuuri grinding on Victor at the banquet. Victor may be impulsive first and foremost, it’s where he gets his genius, but what keeps him alive and at the top is his carefulness.

Victor when learning a language is the kind who would jump into it, trying out new phrases unabashedly, without embarrassment and fully appreciative of criticism.

Now, here’s is why I decided to write this.

**This is how they learn to communicate non-verbally as well.**

I’m not talking skating, because that’s a whole another post, but I’m talking about the casual touches, the moments that are meant to remind of the other’s presence, and not necessarily invoke a response.

Yuuri and Victor are both unused to touching for the sake of touching. Before it had always served a purpose. But to reassure, to comfort, to say “I’m here”, or even just to share space…..that was new to both of them.

Victor, despite not knowing how but  _oh so eager to learn_ , jumped headfirstuntil it became second nature. Until the eager buzzing under his skin became a humming source of comfort.

Victor’s mimicked displays of affection calmed and became  _his_ displays of affection towards  _Yuuri._ Instead of flicking his thumb across Yuuri’s bottom lip, he started resting his elbow on Yuuri’s shoulder. Until it became as easy as breathing.

And Yuuri….Yuuri who had never done this either, observed.

He observed how Victor would like to touch, and how he liked to be touched. How Victor’s blue eyes would widen at hugs, and calm at a touch of the arm.

And after a while, as Victor learned how to swim in the deep end, Yuuri got into the pool.

And thus began their journey of tie pulling on National Television, kissing of skates and each other.


	14. BPD Victor, Take 2

Ok, so I’m gonna do something I was wary of attempting to articulate. But in true Victor Nikiforov fashion, sometimes you just gotta get on that plane and bare it all.

Victor Nikiforov with Borderline Personality Disorder is important.

Victor Nikiforov with chronic tiredness and boredom is valid.

Victor Nikiforov with apathy, that a painful yearning  _to feel_ cannot scratch no matter how hard Victor tries, is crucial to understand why a successful man at the peak of his career ran off to meet the boy who put stars in his eyes and made him laugh for one evening.

Yes, it’s tempting to write Victor off as a lovesick, extra boob.

But it’s even better when you realize that Victor is still  _all_  those things  _despite_ being touched by “ _the kind of tiredness sleep just can’t fix_.” How he feels everything so deeply, that he feels nothing at all.

It doesn’t make the epic love any less to realize that it is overlain over a battle-strewn terrain of Victor’s own making. 

At the end of the day, no matter how much his soul rings with finality, or how his eyes blur with bone-deep tiredness, Victor still manages to smile, bend down and shake hands solemnly with a young kid and say, “I will be waiting on the podium for you.”

* * *

 

_“You are so brave and quiet,  
_

_I forget you are suffering”_

\- Hemingway


	15. Victor vs. Love

Victor, for the longest time, thought that love was wonderful because it was fleeting; The love of the public, his fans, his fellow skaters. So, he did his best to deserve it for as long as he could.

He smiled brighter, leapt higher,  _was_  better. Until it seemed like the image they loved was just that: an image. A pretty picture to put on your walls, but leave behind when you move to a different apartment.

Victor was a romantic, but he was one despite his upbringing, not because of it. He was and will ever remain a product of his life in the limelight: a futurist, a realist.

His genius, the commentators would gush, was in being able to predict and  _create_ the future of skating. You only had to look at the Quad race that his Flip had started. 

So, when he felt his heart bubble in his chest, for the first time in his life…… he figured: might as well see how far this takes me. 

Love might be fleeting, but that didn’t mean it was worthless. That the feelings weren’t real.

Only…… only, the feelings didn’t go away.

Not through the year of no contact.

Not even through the year of extended contact, with an up-close viewing to an HD showing of The Flaws of Victor Nikiforov, Living Legend.

They only got stronger, until the bubbles in his chest settled into a gentle simmer that glowed gold, like the medals he used to wear.

Victory, Victor had known from a very young age, looked good on him.

 _Happiness_ , Victor realized as he stared at a drooling Yuuri, fast asleep in his bed,  _looked better_.

He purchased a ring. 

When a trembling Yuuri bought his own  _in front of Victor_ (!!!!), Victor realized, love  _was_ fleeting. But the very act of  _being in love_ , was an action, a choice. 

And as Victor slid his own ring onto Yuuri’s finger, he decided, it was a choice he wanted to keep making every day for the rest of his life.


	16. Victor vs. Love, Take 2

Victor’s seen the movies, he’s read the books, he’s born witness to Georgie’s histrionics himself……

But none of his training for love had actually prepared him for the actual act of  _being_ in love _._

The slow curl of fondness that unfurls in his soul when he watches a bleary-eyed Yuuri in the morning, or the violent urge to physically shake Yuuri whenever he was being self-deprecating, or how his world had expanded to include a few more people, how just saying something nice about Yuuri was the surest way to get his favor, how one person’s happiness started mattering just as much, if not more than, his own.

Victor, when he was younger, had thought he could never be tied down to anyone, that he didn’t need anyone but the ice and Makkachin; 

He grew a little older, and he thought it would be nice to have someone around, only so that Makkachin would have a more stable family structure if anything else; the older he grew, the more he realized that he would like to be in love one day, but throughout he thought love was another checkbox in the character resume of Victor Nikiforov.

Victor Nikiforov, Living Legend, Lover of *insert name*

The name had never seemed to matter all that much in the equation.

Victor was in love with the idea of being in love. In love with something surgically precise and clean, something where he would remain as he previously was, just with an added role. 

He hadn’t even  _thought_ about asking for something that would sink deep into his skin and lighten his bones, would wreck his cool and shake his heart, would make him gasp in surprise after years of being bored and listless. 

He hadn’t even thought to ask for  _ **Yuuri**._  

(Even he hadn’t had the ambition or the imagination for the life of being in love with  _Katsuki Yuuri_ ) 

But, Victor realizes as he hollers into the dawn, naked, on top of a building in a remote town in Japan, about his superior claim over Yuuri……

_Huh._

It’s sometimes best that you don’t get everything you wished for.  


	17. Amalgamation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is essentially a series of smaller posts that I had made, each is standalone.

 

Ok, but Yuuri’s response to Victor’s theatrics were to scream “I could search the whole world and not find someone like you” at him, strip, and climb a building to join his equally naked fiance and coach, in front of god and everyone.

Yuuri is just as ridiculous, impulsive and dramatic as Victor. It’s why they work well together.

Love means not leaving them alone, naked on top of a building. Love means stripping down and joining them.

* * *

 

The funniest thing about Victuuri is how people think  _Yuuri_ is gonna be the one restraining Victor during his Moments.

Only….have you met Yuuri??????? he’s the enabling, join them type. Hell, if anything  _Victor_ is the ones who has to say “Yuuri, no!” during Yuuri’s Moments..

The actual person restraining them is, funnily enough, Yuri Plisetski.

God help you if you manage to get them all in a Moment.

* * *

 

yo you wanna talk about how Victor was forever seen as a bad luck charm to his fellow skaters? like,  _shit, Victor is competing, no way am I gonna win gold_.

And after Victor leaves the career that was slowly killing him, Yuuri is giving him good luck charm rings, saying “tell me something for good luck” while sliding the ring onto his finger, and viewing Victor and his presence as a  _good thing._

* * *

The thing about yuuri and victor is that they are both impulsive, dramatic and extra,  _but in their own ways._ It’s easy to miss that with Yuuri, because his flavor of impulsive-dramatic-extra is more subtle, and yet hits you like a punch in the face. It’s like physics.

Victor and Yuuri have the same raw amount of ridiculousness stored within them. But Victor expends his quota bit-by-bit every day. Uniformly.

But, Yuuri - like the frugal man he is, saves his. Stores it for the winter.

It’s all calm waters until suddenly BAM Hurricane Yuuri is on the loose. And has his clothes off.

* * *

 

Listen Yuuri is the youngest kid in an Asian family, ok.

So, if you don’t think he is going to drink that hot sauce because you dared him,  _ **you are fucking wrong, CHAD!!!!!!**_

Yuuri’s college days are just Kill Bill sirens all the time. Yuuri will hang up his skates before he defaults on a dare, alright.

Victor is bemused and concerned the first time Phichit gets his usually very cautious husband to start breakdancing in the middle of a Sephora store, by quietly whispering the words “ _Scared of a little dare, Katsuki?”_ through his teeth.

Of course, that gets swept away once Victor’s mind starts strategizing on the different ways he can  _use_  this unholy knowledge.

Phichit sends him a wink.

* * *

 

So we all know Phichit is the more social media savvy of the two.

But Yuuri makes up for what he lacks in tweets with sheer pettiness.

Phichit will gleefully tell the story about the months -  _months -_  he spent trying to convince Yuuri to take a sultrily posed selfie with him, with pouted lips and all.

(“But Yuuri, think of the number of people who are starving for a closeup of your lips!!!”

“What! Phichit! No one wants to see that!”)

And how his suffering was put to an end one fine,  _fine_  day, when a quietly furious Yuuri stomped up to him, slammed a phone to his chest, and with the tone of a man going off to  **win**  a war, had said, “Take a picture of me, **please**.”

For years later, a picture of a Yuuri with a fetching just-got-fucked flush (Which was actually from feelings of murder, but to-ma-to to-mah-to) on his cheeks, and lidded eyes with a come-hither look was all people associated with Japan’s Ace.

(It’s why Michele called him a sex-obsessed pervert, and it sparked his friendship with Chris)

Later on Victor’s search for his elusive banquet-boy, he came across this picture. And he morosely thought,  _of course I wasn’t the only one._ And then proceeded to spite-choreograph the routine that later became On Love:Eros.

Till this day, Phichit whispers across the camp-fire, no one is quite sure what prompted the picture, but  _god bless._

* * *

 

You ever think about intrinsically loveable Victor is…..

And compare that to how far he goes to make himself as likeable as possible, how many faces he’s adorned, how many smiles he’s faked, how many times he has lit himself on fire to keep the other person warm, how much he wants his fans to never regret meeting him, and always always always puts on a Victor Nikiforov Face despite how empty he feels inside….

And then you remember that Before Yuuri, he never knew (but desperately wanted) love, going as far as to choreograph an entire routine about it….

….Do you think Victor thought he was unloveable as he is? Without the personas and masks? Without constructing and remaking himself…. do you think he thought no one was capable of loving him?

Do you think our boy, who has love written in his very smile, thought  _he_  was incapable of love?

* * *

 

Yuuri is most definitely the immovable object in any relationships. I see a lot of fanfic writing him as a pushover, and someone who can be steamrolled over. 

But Yuuri definitely has Steve Roger’s esque “No you move” thing going for him.

He is anxious. Yes. That means that sometimes he will budge on the small things. But boy, give him a cause and he will stay there until the cows come home, and then some more.

His biggest worry is that he is weak. But the fact that he is constantly surrounded by such explosive personalities (that  _push push push_ ) and manages to not only survive, but thrive amongst them……that’s a sign that he is anything but weak.

Whereas, Victor is definitely an unstoppable force…..he will push and take and push some more just to see how much he can get away with. He’s like a mythical bird, constantly testing to see if his companion is worthy of him.

He’s that person who smiles and goes silent until the other person caves and gives in. 

Now, together they are a sight to behold. Yuuri is saved from being too set in his ways, and Victor is saved from flying away. 

They are complements of each other. Their relationship is a dance which they both lead, where they both are equals,  _true equals._  

* * *

@people tagging “Confident Yuuri Katsuki” in AO3 by making his anxiety magically disappear: here’s a wild idea…..those two things are not mutually exclusive.

Yuuri Katsuki may have anxiety, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t confident. This guy felt good enough about himself to  _pull Victor Nikiforov, five-time Champion, and Living Legend’s tie, on national TV._

He immediately shut Victor down during Victor’s spiel about resigning as his coach. He knows his worth. He has self-esteem issues, yes. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t confident. He views the world through a distorted lens, but that doesn’t mean a part of him doesn’t see the truth. It just discounts it.

Just…..having anxiety just means having anxiety, it doesn’t mean you are incapable of being confident. 

* * *

 


	18. Yuri on Concert

Ok so the Yuri on Concert official art got me thinking….

Notice how Yuri P’s shoes so carefully  _do not touch the piano?_ and  _one_ of Victor’s do?

Well, ok so imagine this.

The photographer’s Vision is to have a kind of languid-arching-of-the-neck-drapped-over-a-piano kind of deal, with two men fighting over the artistic, under-assuming pianist. Only!!! one of the men is more experienced in the arts of seduction, while the other is still an ingenue. So, obviously that had to be reflected in the photo as well.

Thus,  _shoes._

Victor’s are bespoken, while Yuri P’s are from the local Target equivalent.

And then the photographer pitches this idea of The Shoes on The Piano to his cast, rather proud of his artistry.

Listen, the photographer had heard horror stories about working with the musical prodigy Yuri Plisetsky, and had planned for it with multiple highlighted binders!!!

And everyone knew that Victor Nikiforov, while lovely to work with, could butt heads in artistic matters. So the photographer had planned for that as well.

But…

No one told him to plan for the soft-spoken, mild-looking Japanese Pianist who wore black gloves everywhere, even when he was eating.

But apparently shoes on piano was kind of a hot issue for Japan’s Ace, Katsuki Yuuri. A fact the photographer became well aware of after he was subjected to a fiery tirade about it as Victor Nikiforov and Yuri Plisetsky looked on in barely-concealed awe. 

The resulting photographs were all of an uneasy looking Yuri P clutching to his instrument like a safety blanket, keeping his shoes noticeably  _off_ the piano.

(The photographer later, in deference to his Vision, photoshopped Victor’s foot on top of the piano, and prayed for his life when Yuuri Katsuki found the truth. 

Just call him a modern day Socrates; dying for his art and all that) 


	19. Becoming an Adult: Victor's Story

Seeing as how Victor’s costume - [which he wore when  _he was sixteen -_ was meant to invoke lingerie and bondage](http://melody-of-ever-blue.tumblr.com/post/155594006877/according-to-the-design-point-yuris-eros-costume)….. I wonder how much and how fast Victor was forced to grow up or act Grown Up when he was younger.

I see younger Victor as someone in a hurry to grow up already, because of his control freak nature, he would see being an adult as being In Control. Due to his life being controlled by adults: coaches, media, RSF, etc., to him being an adult meant that you got to make the decisions. 

I wonder how much the Junior Grand Prix Finals when he was sixteen were a way for him to scream at the world “ _Look at me, I’m an adult! I **matter**_ ”

And to his surprise, it worked.

But then with the so called Adults suddenly including him in their noticeably inappropriate-for-teenagers conversations, I wonder how often he put his discomfort aside and forced a grin on his face when people twice his age joked about things like sex; I wonder how much his perception of sex was formed by rumors and second-hand stories than actual experience.

Seeing as how he routinely rubbed shoulders with the rich and famous, I wonder how exposed he was to the gritty underbelly of the world.   

( _He no longer wanted to be an adult anymore, he missed the ignorant bliss of childhood_ )

I wonder how often Victor had to put his childhood aside to be a role model, to act the part. To be the expert, the one people turned to when things went wrong. 

I wonder if he ever got to  _be_  a child. 

That’s why Hasetsu and his retirement was so freeing, in a sense. He could rediscover his inner child and treat the world like the adventure he had always longed to think of it as…

I wonder how much he would miss that inner child when he goes back to the bonds of professional skating.

**Author's Note:**

> [Tumblr](http://satbiym.tumblr.com/)


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